LotR 13 - more Mirkwood (9)

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Another stab at Journey Through Mirkwood with "Back to Basics". This deck did not perform well for me yesterday, but it's worth trying a few more times to even out the initial draw, and get different encounters.

Setup

Encounter deck in easy mode.

Initial draw:

  1. Sneak Attack
  2. Sneak Attack
  3. Hasty Stroke
  4. Guard of the Citadel
  5. A Test of Will
  6. Gandalf

The big difference between this draw and yesterday's draw is the Sneak Attack and Gandalf is going to help take down that Forest Spider right away.

Round 1

  1. Resource: 1 Leadership, 1 Lore, 1 Spirit, draw Stand and Fight.
  2. Planning: Beravor exhausts to draw Snowbourn Scout and Forest Snare. Pretty cool, should be able to get these both in play. Snowbourn Scout goes into play, 1 Progress on Old Forest Road.
  3. Quest: Eowyn only for this round. Draw Necromancer's Pass, Threat 6 Will 5, Threat +1 to 28.
  4. Travel: Old Forest Road, ready Beravor.
  5. Encounter: Snowbourn engages Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: Forest Spider takes out Snowbourn. Gandalf and Sneak Attack for 4 hits + Beravor 2 hits for 6 hits on 1 Defense and 4 damage, Forest Spider is defeated.
  7. Refresh, Threat 29.

Round 2

  1. Resource: 2 Lore, 2 Spirit, 1 Leadership, draw Miner of the Iron Hills.
  2. Planning: Stand and Fight for Snowbourn Scout, which puts another Progress on Old Forest Road, and allows possible engage.
  3. Quest: Commit 7, draw East Bight Patrol with Threat 3 for 6 total, net 1 Progress Old Forest Road is cleared. Resource to Beravor, who can play Forest Snare next turn if necessary.
  4. Travel: Necromancer's Pass, discard Sneak Attack and Hasty Stroke =( Man that sucks.
  5. Encounter: East Bight Patrol comes out, Snowbourn will engage.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn defends, Shadow to exhaust 1 character, but all are exhausted, hence no effect. Snowbourn back to discard.
  7. Refresh: Threat 30.

Round 3

  1. Resource: 2 Spirit, 2 Leadership, 4 Lore, draw Gandalf, not really what I need at the moment.
  2. Planning: Play Guard of the Citadel spend 2 from Leadership.
  3. Quest: Eowyn and Theodred for 5 + 1 Eowyn discard Miner of Iron Hills, draw Forest Spider net 4 Progress Necromancer's Pass is cleared.
  4. Travel: None.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider comes out.
  6. Combat: Guard of the Citadel killed by East Bight Patrol, Beravor takes 1 Damage from Forest Spider.
  7. Refresh: Threat 31.

Round 4

  1. Resource: 3 Spirit, 2 Leadership, 5 Lore, draw Will of the West.
  2. Planning: Beravor plays Forest Snare on spiders. Would have been nice to have this for potential Ungoliath, but we need to get moving along here for now. Eowyn plays Will of the West, so there is a possibility of getting Sneak Attacks back, which we'll need. Beravor exhausts to draw Northern Tracker and Snowborn Scout. Play Snowbourn.
  3. Quest: Eowyn and Theodred, discard Nothern Tracker, Will 6, draw Dol Goldur Beastmaster, which stays in Staging for now. Net 4 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: none.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn Scout back to discard courtesy of East Bight Patrol.
  7. Refresh: Threat 32.

Round 5

  1. Resource: 3 Lore, 3 Leadership, 3 Spirit, draw Stand and Fight.
  2. Planning: Stand and Fight for Snowbourn Scout, dude is really taking it on the chin here. Beravor exhausts draw Snowbourn Scout and Gandalf (!). Play second Snowbourn Scout.
  3. Quest: Eowyn for 4, draw Forest Spider which will engage net 0 Progress.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Forest Spider.
  6. Combat: Snowbourn Scouts back to discard, Theodred lays a point of damage on East Bight. Shadow destroys Forest Snare attachment, activates previously ensnared Forest Spider, which puts 2 damage on Theodred and Shadow raise threat by 4. This is probably the game. I don't see how I can deal with 4 enemies next round when they have so little damage on them.
  7. Refresh: Threat 37.

Round 6

  1. Resource: 3 Spirit, 3 Leadership, 4 Lore, draw Lore of Imladris.
  2. Planning: play Lore of Imladris to heal Theodred. Play Gandalf to get rid of one of the Forest Spiders.
  3. Quest: Eowyn for 4, draw Great Forest Web, net 0 Progress.
  4. Travel: Great Forest Web, exhaust Theodred, this can't be helped, there will be too much Threat in staging otherwise, and the current Threat is already too high.
  5. Encounter: Beastmaster comes out.
  6. Combat: Beravor, Shadow exhausts Gandalf, which sucks as he won't be able to deal any damage and goes to discard. That was a waste of 5 resources. Beravor takes 1 Damage. Gandalf Shadow adds 3, Gandalf defeated, but would have been anyway, and the Beastmaster lives on. Forest Spider on Theodred takes 3 Damage.
  7. Refresh: Threat 38.

I don't any way to pull this one out. I only have 3 cards in my hand, 2 of which are Gandalf, and 3 enemies with no damage engaged. Another round puts one of the Gandalfs out, then I'm out of resources.

Round 7

  1. Resource: 2 Spirit, 3 Leadership, 2 Lore, draw Guard of the Citadel.
  2. Planning: Play Gandalf and Guard. Would like to play Beravor for a couple of card draws, but too many enemies.
  3. Quest: Eowyn for 4, draw Dol Goldur Orcs, 2 Damage to Eowyn, net 2 Progress and Great Forest Web is cleared.
  4. Travel: none.
  5. Encounter: Dol Goldur Orcs.
  6. Combat: Guard of the Citadel killed. Beravor defends from Dol Goldur Orcs, Theodred killed by Beastmaster, Gandalf deals 3 Damage to Beastmaster.
  7. Refresh: Threat 39.

I think it's pretty much over now. I may make it through next round, but I doubt I'll see Round 10. But whatever, best to play it out and see what happens.

Round 8

  1. Resource: 1 Spirit, 1 Leadership, 1 Lore, draw For Gondor.
  2. Planning: none.
  3. Quest: Eowyn discard For Gondor, Will 5 draw Enchanted Stream, net 3 "Flies and Spiders" Stage 1 is done.
  4. Travel: let's leave Enchanted Stream in the Staging Area for now.
  5. Encounter, none.
  6. Combat: Beravor defends against Beastmaster, both Shadow cards are no effect (!), undefended against Dol Goldur Orcs, Beravor is dead.
  7. Refresh: Threat 40.

I made it through this round, but there is no way Eowyn will survive 2 enemies on her own in the next round, so I'm calling this one here.

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What to play next?

Deciding what to play next is always a tough call when faced with a closet full of games, all of which were purchased with intent to play. Here's one I'm dealing with the decision.

  • Something New: this means both something new to me and a game which has been published recently, within the last two or three years.
  • Something Classic: I've acquired a number of games properly considered "classic" which haven't yet been played. The current example would be PanzerGruppe Guderian.
  • Something Again: mastery requires constant practice, which means playing games many, many times to allow nuance to appear.
  • Something Vietnam: as I'm on a Vietnam binge. I don't have all the Vietnam games ever published, but I can say that I have a lot of them, and probably more than most people.
  • Something Obscure: as it's fun to poke around in the dustier corners of game design.
  • Something Different: break away from the same old publishers and try a game from one of the new kids on the block. Or, conversely, dip into legacy with a classic tried and true.
  • Something Light: once in a while it's nice to actually finish a game all the way through in one sitting, in an hour or two.
  • Something Heavy: if possible, it's nice to set up something big and complicated which can be left out for days or weeks or even months, for a leisurely stroll through a very large or long game.

There are surely many more ways to choose, but the above method keeps me busy enough, helps me get both breadth and depth into my play, and provides me with a sense of progress.

The odd man out

When there is an odd man out:

  • Have a solo game ready to play.
  • Keep score or advise on a game in progress.
  • Referee a game in progress.